Inside a packed ballroom at the local Holiday Inn, 13 government-appointed scientists sat regally around a table, debating servings of fish. "What do we want to recommend for children? Fish twice a week?" asked chairwoman Janet King. "Small fish," another panel member said. "Children are advised to eat smaller portions of fish than adults?" "Can we defer a vote on that?" pleaded another. The august panel of nutrition researchers had been talking this way for 45 minutes.

Conjugated linoleic acid is a bundle of polyunsaturated fatty acids being billed as a weight-loss tool. The substance is found naturally in small amounts in some plants, dairy products and meat -- especially cheese and beef -- and is now included in some diet shakes and nutrition bars.

McDonald's Corp. has made a weighty decision: cook its famous French fries in a new oil that reduces the type of fats linked to heart disease. The move, announced Tuesday, comes as the world's No. 1 restaurant chain struggles to fend off intensifying competition and combat the perception among consumers that its quality is poor and service unsatisfactory. McDonald's will introduce oil with lower levels of trans-fatty acids and saturated fat at some restaurants next month, the company said.

French fries are one of America's favorite fast foods, and it's easy to see why. When they're made correctly--flash fried to perfection, not too crunchy, not too soggy, with a dash of salt and a dollop of ketchup on the side--they're sheer heaven. Each year, in fact, the typical American consumes more than 57 pounds of frozen potatoes (almost all of which are French fries), according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture; 90% of those fries are bought at fast-food restaurants.

Last month, three studies added to the evidence that omega-3 fatty acids, primarily found in fish, appeared to lower the risk of dying from a sudden heart attack--a reason the American Heart Assn. recommends eating fish twice a week. Given that fish is low in saturated fat and a good source of protein, and that 250,000 Americans collapse and die from sudden heart attacks each year, it seems like a no-brainer that it should be a regular part of everyone's diet.

Two fatty acids normally found in mother's milk and widely used in infant formula throughout the world--but banned in the United States--aid mental development when added to formula, according to researchers from the Retina Foundation of the Southwest in Dallas. The fatty acids are docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA). Psychologist Eileen E. Birch and her colleagues studied 56 newborns.

With Americans increasingly turning to the Internet for medical information, federal officials announced stepped-up efforts Thursday to counter fraudulent online claims that promise to cure ailments from arthritis to AIDS. More than 20 million Americans look to the Internet for health information--70% of them before visiting a doctor's office, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

A study conducted at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland suggests that omega-3 fatty acids, which have already been associated with the prevention of heart disease, may help neurological development in unborn children. One group of 15 women consumed one half to one full can of sardines, providing 2.4 grams of omega-3 fatty acids, every day from the 26th through the 35th week of pregnancy; another 15 pregnant women didn't have sardines or fish oil supplements.

Butter lovers may have felt vindicated recently when a study in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that a type of fat found in margarine may increase the risk of heart disease. But some medical experts are cautioning that while the study was well designed, the results do not give a green light either to eating only butter or forsaking margarine. "This is a provocative new finding, but before it's applied to the public, it needs to be repeated and confirmed.